Terra Incognita
Akusmi
(Tonal Union)
Born in France and based in the UK, composer Pascal Bideau records under the name Akusmi. Over the course of two intriguing, eclectic albums, the multi-instrumentalist producer has built a reputation as a magpie, harnessing spiritual jazz to Indonesian gamelan and non-western scales (Fleeting Future, 2022) or paring back on the minimal (Lines, 2023). Systems music – another Bideau source – has a reputation for being austere, but Akusmi’s records are crowded with joy.
With Terra Incognita, Bideau picks and remixes anew in an unfettered accumulation of sounds and rhythms from India, Senegal and beyond. Guests also arrive, and with them the feeling of an open house: tabla player Sarathy Korwar powers tracks including the increasingly frenetic track Rain Dance, while Pleine Lune unites Bideau and Korwar with Senegalese musician Dudú Kouate and Polish-born, London-based harpist Marysia Osu for a kaleidoscopic canter.
The only thing amiss here is the exoticising Eurocentric framing. Terra Incognita means unknown land. Latin speakers may believe they are travelling to parts unknown, but the people hosting them certainly know where they are. Kitty Empire
Role Model Hermit
Mary in the Junkyard
(AMF)
Mary in the Junkyard emerged from south London’s prolific Brixton Windmill, a mostly post-punk, mostly male breeding ground for bands such as Black Midi and Shame. Yet the young trio of vocalist Clari Freeman-Taylor, bassist Saya Barbaglia and drummer David Addison always existed on a more fantastical plane than their peers, decorating their live shows with handmade creature puppets and writing crepuscular tales that fall somewhere between dream and nightmare.
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The band lean into their singularity right from the opener Mantra III, on which Freeman-Taylor repeatedly intones a comforting reminder: “It is yours babe / You deserve it.” Her delivery is idiosyncratic and almost childlike. She cuts an evocative character experiencing social overwhelm on the gently swelling strings and fingerpicked motifs of Blood, and then a strange and alluring presence on New Muscles, with its skeletal beats and prowling conceits. The trio’s intrigue regularly lies in this mix of menace and innocence, such as on the wide-eyed depression study Peter the Dog, or Thou Shalt Sprout, a hypnotic folk track. All this makes for a truly original debut, out of step with rock and the modern world in general, and building its own magical universe in which to play. Lisa Wright
Visitor
Sienna Spiro
(Capitol)
When Sienna Spiro’s Die on This Hill became a hit, the comparisons came quickly: her cracking, soulful voice recalled that of Amy Winehouse, Celeste and Olivia Dean. London has no shortage of artists working a similar sound, but Spiro distinguishes herself with a tolerance for ambiguity, treating uncertainty itself as a subject rather than something to be resolved. The strongest example is We’re Not in Love, which hinges on a simple contradiction: “We’re not in love / But we make love.” Likewise, He’s Not My Baby, I’m His pairs one of the album’s sharpest pop hooks with the uneasy acceptance of being someone’s placeholder.
The title track The Visitor demonstrates the album’s central idea over sweeping strings: “Say that you love me, say I’m all you need / In the back of my mind, I know I’m temporary.” Underneath its orchestral arrangements and cinematic grandeur, Visitor concerns itself with the small yet painfully real humiliations of modern romance. Spiro understands that, for a generation navigating impermanent, riddling relationships, these moments are just as dramatic as those that make up heartbreak ballads of old. Georgia Evans
Alden Hellmuth
Tether
(Leiter Verlag)
Alden Hellmuth is a woman in a hurry. True, it took until she was 29 for her debut, Good Intentions, to arrive (which it did to acclaim in 2024). But the saxophonist and composer had spent her 20s in obsessive study, graduating from the Herbie Hancock Institute at University of California, picking up an array of awards en route. Jazz avant-gardists such as Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler were a preoccupation but Hellmuth is eclectic; on this second album, the frantic Face the Wall was inspired by art rockers Deerhoof and Japanese punkettes Otoboke Beaver.
On her debut, Hellmuth was part of a group that included guitar, piano and trumpet, but on Tether she is accompanied only by bassists Logan Kane and Miller Wrenn, alongside demon drummer Justin Brown, sticksman with Thundercat. The album thrums with low-level energy, with Brown’s rimshots flying furiously, but Alden’s playing is largely poised, following the intricacies of her compositions while cutting into improvisations that are free yet tethered. At times it’s a little relentless – pianist Paul Cornish on Witness and trumpeter Yakiv Tsvietisky on Definitely Not Friends bring some welcome variation – but Hellmuth’s playing, its tone mellow even at its wildest, remains compulsive. Neil Spencer
One to watch: Naïka
Some acts simply make more sense when you see them perform. Live, Naïka creates a world around her intoxicating R&B, the stage’s colourful garlands rivalling her stunning outfits for your attention. Growing up in Miami, surrounded by clothes from her mother’s fashion store, helped her develop an eye for visual design. After starting out singing covers at weddings, casinos and corporate gigs, Naïka has been ambitious about presenting her own material – even when her 12-person band outnumbered the audience. But that’s no longer an issue: with viral hits such as 1+1 all over TikTok, sold-out crowds now sing every word back at her.
Naïka (her mum’s idea: “a little fish”) is currently touring Eclesia (her dad’s idea: “people gathering together”). It’s an accomplished debut that honours her French-Haitian heritage, her buttery vocals gliding over tropical bops. She’s especially good on the subject of lust congealing into love and the messy physics of emotion. On stage, she also speaks beautifully about the dislocation of feeling like an outsider. What a Day! makes piquant observations on quotidian racism, while – over Caribbean sunset rhythms – Welcome to Eclesia makes dancing an act of liberation rather than empty-headed hedonism. Damien Morris
Naïka headlines the Somerset House Summer Series, London, on 16 July
Photographs by Dan Medhurst, Xander Lewis, TKTKT, Pete Agraan, xsandiia